There are various instruments in the dental art for cleaning teeth. One such device that is well known to remove plaque and tartar from teeth is a dental scaler. Typical scalers consist of a handle having an attached scaling portion with a scaling element. In use, a dentist or hygienist, positions the scaling element against a tooth and scrapes away tartar and plaque. Due to variations in the contour of the dental table, several scalers with different scaling portions are required to fully and effectively clean all of a patient's teeth.
When a patient has an orthodontic appliance, the task of effectively positioning the scaling element to clean a tooth is even more difficult. In addition to the variations in the contour of the dental table, the dentist must navigate around a brace wire and exercise care so as to not scrape off a brace bracket. While numerous different scaling portions exist, none are generally designed for cleaning around orthodontic appliances.
One prior art device is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,388,989 and Des. 359,122 to Kountis, which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference. This device is designed to clean every part of the occlusal table. The device disclosed by Kountis includes a handle with a scaling portion having a scaling element. Due to the positioning of the scaling element on the scaling portion, it is apparent that the scaling device disclosed by Kountis is not generally designed for use with patients having an orthodontic appliance, and the specification does not contemplate such a use.
Another prior art device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 301,962 to Huang, which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. This device consists of a hook with a rotatable handle and is presumably used for cleaning teeth although no disclosure or teaching is provided thereof. As with Kountis, it is evident that the location of the tip of the scaling portion is not generally designed to effectively clean a patient's teeth while navigating around an orthodontic appliance, and there is no teaching or disclosure for such.